What the politicisation of Iryna Zarutska's murder in the US means for Ukraine
On 22 August, in the American city of Charlotte, North Carolina, 23-year-old Iryna Zarutska tragically died. A Ukrainian who fled to the United States after the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion, she worked at a pizzeria, learned English and dreamed of her future.
Her life was cut short by a random attack on a city light rail train: a man with a criminal past and mental illness, without any prior conflict, fatally stabbed her.
The incident became a source of pain and shock for Ukrainians in the US, but it was primarily a trigger for political controversy for American society.
Read more about how the death of the Ukrainian woman turned into a tool of political struggle in the US in the column by political scientist and YES executive director Svitlana Kovalchuk: A symbol of someone else’s war: how the death of a Ukrainian woman in the US became an election tool.
A personal tragedy has become part of campaign rhetoric and a tool for mobilising voters, the author notes.
She cites the statement of US President Donald Trump after the murder of the Ukrainian woman:
"[T]he blood of this innocent woman can literally be seen dripping from the killer’s knife, and now her blood is on the hands of the Democrats who refuse to put bad people in jail," he declared.
According to Kovalchuk, Republicans directly accuse Democrats and city authorities of pursuing "woke" policies and placing excessive emphasis on the rights of marginalised groups, which has softened criminal law and given more freedom to people with criminal backgrounds or mental illnesses.
"Thus, a personal tragedy became campaign rhetoric and an instrument of voter mobilisation," writes the YES executive director.
The tragedy coincided with another high-profile murder, the author recalls. On 10 September in Utah, during a public speech, Charlie Kirk – one of the most prominent conservative activists in the US and founder of the movement Turning Point USA – was shot dead.
The author believes both murders stem from different problems, but they share one common factor: individual tragedies. And these tragedies have become weapons in America’s political struggle, which, in her view, will only deepen societal division.
A special role in Iryna’s case was played by video footage of the attack, which quickly spread on social media and attracted considerable attention in the US, the political scientist notes.
She does not rule out that such attention could also work in Ukraine’s favour: the murder of a Ukrainian refugee provokes sympathy and strengthens the argument that Ukraine deserves support.
On the other hand, the YES executive director warns, politicising this story in the US risks turning an individual’s life and death in the war into a dry political talking point.
In such a case, Ukrainians may begin to be associated with certain political clichés rather than with their real struggle for freedom and the right to live, the political scientist concludes.